ABC: Rubio not being vetted for Veepstakes

posted at 9:21 am on June 19, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Well, at least he hasn’t been vetted, although two months is a long time to wait to get started on someone who’s supposed to be a short-lister for the running-mate slot. ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports that sources on Team Romney claim Marco Rubio has not been asked to provide any of the usual financial disclosures to the VP search committee — yet:

Even before the Republicans chose a presidential nominee it was widely assumed that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would be at the top of anybody’s list of vice presidential candidates. The reasons are obvious: Not only is he young, charismatic and wildly popular with conservatives, but he could also help Republicans win a key state (Florida) and make inroads with Hispanics.

But knowledgeable Republican sources tell me that Rubio is not being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice presidential search team. He has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or been asked to turn over any financial documents typically required of potential vice presidential candidates.

Although it is possible that Rubio may yet be asked to go through the vetting process, it has been nearly two months since Romney named his long-time aide Beth Myers to run his vice presidential search. The fact that Rubio has not been asked to turn over any documents by now is a strong indication that he is not on Romney’s short list of potential running mates.

Check the calendar. It’s June. It wouldn’t take long for the committee to vet Rubio if they decide he’s worth a look for the short list, and Romney won’t announce his pick until just before the convention. They could have a profile of Rubio ready by the middle of next month at the latest, assuming that the immigration order announced by Barack Obama on Friday pushed Team Romney into reaction mode.

Clearly, though, it hasn’t. Romney didn’t bother to engage on the policy itself over the weekend, choosing to attack Obama’s unilateral assumption of authority instead, as well as point out that Obama could have solved this problem any time in the first two years of his presidency, as his own party had solid control of Congress. Rubio spoke out this weekend in the same vein, which he did with me in an exclusive* interview, primarily to talk about his new book An American Son but also to discuss the immigration issue:

Rubio insists that the White House not only never reached out to him on immigration policy, they attempted to deliberately obstruct his progress on finding a bipartisan compromise on the issue. The Obama administration clearly fears Rubio’s power on immigration (and probably foreign policy and the economy as well). They may have feared most that he would succeed on immigration reform and make himself into a powerful VP choice for Romney. But that sells Rubio short. After all, he just arrived in the US Senate, and has plenty of time to build his own career rather than get lost as someone else’s VP. A term in the Senate and perhaps one as governor of Florida would put Rubio in position to lead a ticket rather than be a second banana.

I’m not surprised that Team Romney hasn’t vetted Rubio as a potential running mate. Their best bet would be to look at the ranks of governors (Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, Susana Martinez, Rick Perry) and hype the uber-competence credentials of such a combination.

* – Using the media definition of “exclusive,” which is “no one else was on our specific call at the same time.”

Rubio may be too early in his national political career at this point. His selection will be painted as pandering to Hispanics. And the allegation of him improperly using a Florida Republican Party credit card for personal expenses will be adjudicated again and be a distraction for the few months between the convention and November.

I’m not surprised that Team Romney hasn’t vetted Rubio as a potential running mate. Their best bet would be to look at the ranks of governors (Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, Susana Martinez, Rick Perry) and hype the uber-competence credentials of such a combination.

Rubio is a rising star in the GOP but, face it, his resume at this point is almost as thin as Obama’s was when he was elected President and look how that worked out. Plus, I’m not so sure that Rubio would do much to bolster conservatives wary that Romney is too muc of a moderate. In comparison, Jindal has served in the HHS, as a Congressman, and successful Governor. Bottom line, there are better choices than Rubio for this particular election cycle.

Rubio’s a one-term senator with no accomplishments to his name yet. Inexperienced and unready to assume the presidency. Hmmm, sounds like somebody I’ve heard of before. The Dems would find some way to excoriate Romney for making such a pick, while pointing out that at least Obama has ‘experience’ now. I think it’ll be a governor and it’ll be Jindal.

Does Romney care enough about any issue to comment on it, you know, publicly? This guy absolutely reeks of Bush 41. And while were on the subject of Bushies, Portman is the worst possible pick for VP. A big spending Bush budget guy, when 3/4 of (ignorant)American public blame Bush’s budget for the problems we’re facing? Are you F’in kidding me. Also, no Pawlenty or Daniels.
If Romney would have attended the RightOnline convention he would known how dispassionate his support is among conservatives. It would be a critical mistake to take us for granted by choosing a demoralizing pick (i.e. a Big Government BushBot) as his VP.

I love Jindal and maybe I’m in the Twilight Zone, but I’d rather see Chris Christie or Scott Walker if he’s choosing governors. Perry has gotten on my last nerve with his Dewhurst support. It’s not like Texas and Louisiana aren’t in the bag anyway.

Any shot Rubio had of being Romney’s VP went out the window when 0bama granted amnesty to 800,000 illegal aliens.

I suspect neutralizing the Rubio threat was one of the secondary reasons Soetoro granted amnesty to those illegals. No matter that Rubio, unlike Barry, sought to grant amnesty through Constitutional process.

I have to chuckle though at the title of Rubio’s book. It HAS to be in response to the continual “natural born citizen” stuff. I don’t think Rubio’s getting much further than where he already is. He’s going to have these “naturals” in his own party around his neck just as Palin will always have the “I’m not voting for a woman” ones around hers.

Rubio’s a one-term senator with no accomplishments to his name yet. Inexperienced and unready to assume the presidency. Hmmm, sounds like somebody I’ve heard of before. The Dems would find some way to excoriate Romney for making such a pick, while pointing out that at least Obama has ‘experience’ now. I think it’ll be a governor and it’ll be Jindal.

Trafalgar on June 19, 2012 at 9:34 AM

Rubio is in his first term as US Senator. We are hoping that Obama becomes a one-term President. See the difference?

I’d be happy with Bobby Jindal on the ticket. Even though Louisiana isn’t really in play, he’s a good choice.

If it’s Jindal and Romney loses, then Jindal’s ruined forever. Well, the GOP will be as well, but still. I think Romney needs to pick a moderate like Pawlenty since moderate is all the rage and the pathway to victory.

I suspect neutralizing the Rubio threat was one of the secondary reasons Soetoro granted amnesty to those illegals. No matter that Rubio, unlike Barry, sought to grant amnesty through Constitutional process.

MidniteRambler on June 19, 2012 at 9:40 AM

That and handing out citizenship to a bunch of illegal Mexicans before going to the G20 summit in Mexico City this week and speaking to a Hispanic group at the end of the week I’m sure played into the timing. Clinton triangulated, Obama is separating the various interest groups from the herd for more focused pandering. This is clearly Hispanic week at the White House.

Seems to me there are plenty of people warming up for the next several years who are young and have good credentials and are good communicators. Good credentials like executive and legislative experience. If Obama managed to pull off another term, the Democrats would be left with two very difficult things in 4 years.

1. A potentially ugly primary of their own.
2. A much stronger GOP field that might include people like Marco Rubio and Chris Christie.

BTW, Rubio has been saying he is not interested because he is not being vetted; he is not not being vetted because he is uninterested.

Until recently, the Republican establishment expected Romney to lose this election. That’s another reason why people like Rubio and Christie were being so coy – they didn’t want to be VP on a losing ticket, while keeping their options open. Now that it looks like Romney could take this, Christie, for example, is practically panting for the job.

Rubio is being groomed for 2016 and beyond. Given that he’s forming a political persona that is equal parts hawk and amnesty, I’d say McCain is a prominent mentor.

How ’bout we just listen to what Romney and his team have been saying about their VP pick: no “game-changers”, ready to be President on first day, boring.

Rubio needs a few years DOING THINGS and getting some experience and some MAJOR LEGISLATION behind him (the NON-Barack Kardashian Obama way)… too early, but vetting him NOW would help down the road, say in 8 years…

I’m hoping Jindal is picked. Young and has executive experience so Dems can’t use that. i’m sure he’ll be called a racist, but that’s nothing new.

gsherin on June 19, 2012 at 9:33 AM

Me too. The VP debate alone would be must-see TV on the better than even odds that slow Joe makes some 7-11 remark…er, again. More than that, though Jindal is a competent executive steeped in policy…he’d be a great choice.

I’m betting, though, that it’s someone a bit more blah, like a Portman or Pawlenty.

And by refusing to help defeat Obama you should give up your right to criticize him. What does it matter to you? It wasn’t worth it for you to lift a finger when it mattered most. So don’t ever criticize Obama again.

Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

The study, called “The Rise of Asian-Americans” and released on Tuesday, reveals that Asian-Americans also have the highest income, are the best-educated and are the fastest-growing racial group in America

If Jindal hadn’t botched that Republican response a couple years ago, he would be the NO BRAINER pick. However, I’m sure he has and will become more polished since then and has the credentials and intellect to be a great VP pick. I’d be very happy with him.

If Mitt takes Phuckabee or Santorum for VP I’ll be voting for Obama, period. Screech as much as you please, but I swear I will. There’s a limit of how much moral anesthesia my liver can possibly take.

Rubio as VP will likely see my general-election vote go to a third party – in my list of values, sponsoring NOLA is an unforgivable black mark.

Christie, I can live with, though I’d certainly prefer him either to stay here in New Jersey or serve as Atty General in Romney’s government. He just doesn’t seem to be a fitting VP for a RINO-ish Nor’easterner.

Daniels or Pawlenty, what can I say? Meh. Both are acceptable but as exciting as a glass of stale beer.

Rob Portman, an okay choice. Nothing to cheer for, but it’s a solid and respectable choice. We’re picking a VP here, a singular most useless position in the American authority chain.

Bobby Jindal doesn’t seem to be willing to step up, but if it’s him Mitt will see my wallet open. What can I say, I’d love to turn New Jersey red and Jindal can do that.

Any other pick would be a stunning surprise, good or bad I don’t know.

Being goomed by whom? You mean the GOPe will be pimping Rubio in the likely event that Romney loses? I thought that was only believed by TrueCon tinfoil-hat types.

ddrintn on June 19, 2012 at 10:03 AM

I don’t think TruCons are tinfoil-hat types; in fact, I’m on recored saying that TruCons have every right to be distrustful of the Republican establishment, and of Romney. The mistake TruCons make is thinking that Romney is the establishment candidate. He is not. Romney is an outsider; he has his own organization, his own money, and his own power base. The establishment is now lining up behind him because it looks like he may win, but he and they are not the same, and they will turn on him in a second given the opportunity, as the Democrat establishment turned on the Clintons in 2008 (Clinton is not really Dem establishment. Gore, Kennedy, Kerry, etc. are.)

Rubio is establishment, and he’s being groomed. Amnesty/open borders is the Republican establishment postion, and they want it. It is not Romney’s position, but he is being pushed. Obama is trying to deepen the split. Romney is handling this well right now, but it’s not over yet. Don’t trust Rubio. He knows what side his bread is buttered on.

It should be Bobby Jindal. He’s smart, Southern, a two-term governor, nerdy, and doesn’t provoke controversy. Picking Rubio will only focus the debate on inexperience, scandal, immigration, and his charisma over Romney’s meh.

I like Rick Perry. A lot. In fact, there are 3 things that I like about Perry:

1) His conservatism.
2) His sincerity.
3) Uh, I forgot what the third one was, but is for darn sure wasn’t uber-competence, a descriptive not often attached to the Guv.

rogaineguy on June 19, 2012 at 10:11 AM

Rick Perry, the only possible VP pick who can make Joe “Plugs” Biden look like a neurosurgeon with a degree in rocket science. We have also had our share of Texas governors, thank you very much (yeah, I know he’s different, but who else does?).

I’m from Florida and I’m personally hoping Rubio is not the Vice-Presidential nominee because I want him to run for President in the future. Having said that, my understanding is that Rubio hired a firm to conduct opposition research on him because of what the Democrats tried to pull on him about his parents. I’m sure that, if Romney really wanted him, he could be vetted rather quickly.

I hope Romney picks Governor Martinez from New Mexico. I hear she’s really good and the Democrats would be apoplectic if Romney picked a woman, Hispanic Governor from a state that’s in the Dem column. I wonder if they’d treat her any different than Sarah Palin?

I belive the article is bogus. It just so happens on the Sean Hanity radio show the other day Hanity had Rubio as a guest. Rubio was asked if he’s being vetted and he refused to answer. It really wouldn’t shock me that this is the “source” and ABC decided him not answering the question means he’s not being vetted

Rom will need a VP that can deal with a democrap house and or senate [f we do not hold a majority]. Rubio has been there for two years. Paul Ryan has more experience, but then the wimps will say oh, his budget will be demagogued. But he won in WI in a small district; not state wide.

Joe Scarborough: That’s exactly what I told my wife, Steve! I said, “Man, if Jeb Bush were a woman — or, if he paid me to, you know — I would be all over that.” And my wife just looked at me, looked at the pool boy outside, told me she would be back later tonight, and that was that. Jeb Bush, man. Jeb Bush.

Mika Brzezinski: I eat apples, run, and hate fat kids.

Joe Scarborough: Yes you do, Mika! Ha! Ha! Ha! Yes you do! Now go back to your coffee and here are some more crayons.

I have to chuckle though at the title of Rubio’s book. It HAS to be in response to the continual “natural born citizen” stuff. I don’t think Rubio’s getting much further than where he already is. He’s going to have these “naturals” in his own party around his neck just as Palin will always have the “I’m not voting for a woman” ones around hers.

ddrintn on June 19, 2012 at 9:43 AM

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Please don’t lump “naturals”, as in Constitutionalists, in the same category as sexists & misogynists. Worlds apart. (BTW: Rubio was 4 years old when his parents became US citizens = not NATURAL born.)

I’m not sure I’m buying this story. I find it hard to believe the Romney team isn’t vetting Rubio. If he’s not the best selection Romney could make, he’s certainly in the top 3.

BTW – the birther whackos sound like they’re griping about Rubio’s mother having a C-section when they talk about him not being a natural born citizen. He was born in this country, so that makes him a “natural born citizen” who is eligble to be President – but nuts gotta roll, so that’s not good enough. They gotta keep up the “Obama is ineligble” meme despite the fact that no court including the SCOTUS would ever remove a President from office who was duly elected short of impeachment and conviction.

I gave Rubio every chance to prove that he deserved my trust and possibly, my vote at some point.

However, after his most recent statement, that he ‘would come to this nation illegally’ if he ‘had to’ paired with the statement that we needed to treat illegal aliens with ‘common decency’ has convinced me that he lacks any regard for the rule of law and is willing to pander shamelessly to attempt to further his own career, even at the expense of the nation.

The problem with illegal immigration is not that we have not shown illegal aliens ‘common decency’ its that we have been UNCOMMONLY DECENT. We ordered, by law, that illegal aliens are entitled to a public education, at no charge, and that they receive emergency medical care, for which we receive no reimbursement in the VAST majority of cases. We also provide free pretnatal and maternity care for them. We extend the right to a hearing to them when they are arrested before deportation,and we handle them with respect for their human rights when we apprehend and, when processed, through deportation. Since the vast majority of the illegal aliens currently at large int his nation are from Mexico, compare our treatment of illegal aliens in this nation to how illegal aliens are treated in MEXICO. The fact that we have been uncommonly decent readily becomes apparent.

Mexico has changed over the years. It has about a 5% unemployment rate. It has a poverty rate of about 18% that is falling. Mexico has a thriving middle class. The US has a sustained unemployment rate of 8 plus% for the last consecutive 41 months. Our poverty rate is about 15% an rising. The US has 23 million people(citizens and legal immigrants) either unemployed or acutely underemployed. Mexico is ranked 12 in terms of economy in the world.

IF Mexico has a wage disparity, and a deep seated problem with racism, in that the southern states where the population is predominantly INDIAN have the deepest poverty and the lowest wages, that is not the fault of the United States. Mexico has profited mightily by exporting its problems to the US. We cannot continue to be the dumping ground for Mexico’s poor, uneducated, or criminals.

For Marco Rubio to suggest that the people of the United States have shown illegal aliens, who have willfully shattered our federal immigration laws, thus demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law and a clear disdain for the rights of the citizens and legal immigrants of this nation, is an egregious slur upon the largess and generosity that the American people have already shown the MILLIONS of illegal aliens who have taken advantage of our nation. It is also all the indication of a general lack of character and willingness to pander to a large constituency in his home state in order to further his career at the expense of the rest of the nation that I need to inform my own opinion of him.

It must be Ryan. We will not win by running out the clock. Name him early so you can withstand the demagoguery, offer the alternative vision, win the landslide like Wisconsin. Obama won by offering change for a reason. They country wants things to change. They just dont want Obama’s version

OF COURSE Rubio is not being vetted.
Only Natural Born Citizens should be considered.
That leaves Jindal out, too.

I wonder how many times this will get posted in the next months. Natural born citizenship has nothing to do with your parents and is not defined by the constitution. Its defined by Congress. We’ve had numerous presidents with immigrant parents.

I have a serious problem with this title and his consideration for VP and/or President as Rubio’s parent’s came to America in 1956 and did not become citizens until 1975 (4 years after he was born). Essentially illegal immigrants – aren’t political asylum cases processed faster than 19 years? Jindal’s bio doesn’t mention if/when his parents became citizens.
This is not the beginning of America – when no ‘candidates’ had parents born in the US – but 235 years later – when the ‘immigrant’ status of parents MUST be an issue. And yes, it is important – much like the Obama status – there is a Constitutional issue that the President MUST be a Natural Born Citizen – not just someone who was lucky enough to have a mother squat in the US and have a kid.
And believe me, as much as the Dems make a nonsense screed ‘birthers’ in reference to Obama’s questionable status – they will scream NBC should Rubio or Jindal be the VP pick. And don’t doubt me, the Dems are nothing but hypocritical to the max.
I don’t think Obama was born anywhere but HA, I just know that his claimed father was a British citizen and never attempted to be an American citizen and the British Nationality Law stated that a child of a British citizen is born a British citizen no matter where in the world they are born. So at best Obama was born a duel citizen – where is the paperwork to show his choosing an American citizenship, he would have been legally forced to drop that British citizenship for two reasons, one – the BNL and two – muslims always go by the father for everything. [And no I am not saying President Obama was/is a muslim, just his father was – no matter how many times our President tries to deny it]
There is a purpose to these skating the line ‘immigrants’ being pushed forward to seats of power – it is to destroy America’s sovereignty and move forward the OneGlobalWorld rule. I, for one, like that in America, anyone can achieve almost anything – but to use the Office of the President to destroy the Constitution and America, shouldn’t be on the conservative’s list at all. Ever.

Please don’t lump “naturals”, as in Constitutionalists, in the same category as sexists & misogynists. Worlds apart. (BTW: Rubio was 4 years old when his parents became US citizens = not NATURAL born.)

NightmareOnKStreet on June 19, 2012 at 11:07 AM

Fourteenth Amendment. You’re not at liberty yourself to define “natural born” as having citizens as parents. That’s not “constitutionalism”, that’s crankery.

I have been pretty convinced that it would be McDonnell from Va. Safe and boring. It would help Romney in Virginia, and George Allen in Senate. That being said, Jindal would be awesome all around. Even better if Romney pledged one term to make the hard and necessary decisions to change our country’s direction and let Jindal take over for 2016.